The Trouble With Coming Home
by GABGM
Summary: Eight months ago before Josh left for a semester abroad he and Maya made a mistake, now he's back and Maya has a new boyfriend. What happened between them and why have they both been so jumpy since his return?
1. Chapter 1

She didn't know how she was supposed to feel, it had been so long since they'd seen each other. Eight months to be exact, and he had been abroad since then. He had had different experiences and met knew people. Who knew how much Spain had changed him. It was a completely different culture, famous for its incredible scenery and art scene; maybe he had out grown New York. That's not evening mentioning all the European girls he had probably met during his semester abroad. Not that she cared about that, she had Noah now and she was happy. She was way over her ridiculous crush on him. She was only nervous because the last time they had seen one another they had left so many things unsaid, she didn't regret what had happened, she wanted it, it was her choice, she was ready and she knew what was going to happen in the end. But what if Riley picked up on something? Their relationship was bound to change after what had gone down, how could it not? She never wanted to put Riley in an uncomfortable position. And what about Noah, were things going to change now? She was so happy with him and he made her really happy. God she had screwed up and now there was nothing she could do about it. So she waited, along with the rest of the Matthews family, for him to arrive from the airport. Amy and Allen had left over an hour ago so between the waiting and the 40 minutes it took to drive from JFK airport to The Matthews apartment in the Village, they should have been arriving any minute.

"So do you think he brought me any presents?" Auggie asked excited.

"I don't think he brought you any Sangria if that's what you're thinking kid" Shawn smirked.

"Shawn!" Cory chastised

"I was just hoping for a cool magnet for my locker"

"I'm just happy he's back," said Riley "I feel like he's been gone forever"

"Eight months is a long time" Maya mused.

"What's up family!" Josh burst through the door grinning. The room was suddenly filled with a chorus of hellos and chairs being moved as people ran over to greet the young man but the first to through himself into his uncle's arms was, of course, Auggie who ran so quickly towards the door Josh was barely able to register the oncoming boy before he launched himself at him. "Hey buddy how are you?"

"I'm good but fourth grade really kicked my butt"

"It happens to the best of us" Josh chuckled.

"Uncle Josh"

"Riley" he hugged back. "Maya" he then added just before they both leaned in to what could only be described as the most unsure and awkward hug in the history of humanity. "It's been a long time"

"Sure has"

"Well you look beautiful" He rubbed the back of his neck as he moved on to greet the rest of his family.

"Thanks"

"What the hell was that?" Riley groaned when he was out of earshot, "I thought you were over him"

"I am Riley, I promise"

"Maya, you have Noah now"

"I know"

"You need to get off this thing with my uncle Josh"

"There is no thing Riley"

"Maya that was awkward to watch"

"Things will never be normal between us; I once jumped on his back" she rolled her eyes convincingly "there is nothing going on other than the normal awkwardness that comes when you meet your ex stalker"

"You promise"

"I promise" her stomach suddenly plummeting after lying to her best friend.

"Then lets enjoy the rest of the party" and enjoy it they did, Maya managed to avoid actually having to spend time with Josh by making small talk with the rest of the family and thus no one seemed to notice the shift in their attitudes, that being said she did not feel comfortable, there was something about being in the same room as him after so long that putt her on edge. She decided she should probably retreat to the fire escape to get some air but of course, Josh had the same thought.

"Oh Sorry" he said as he came through the window "I didn't see you out here"

"It's okay," she mumbled.

"So how have things been?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You're the one who's been on the crazy European adventure"

"Granada was pretty cool but I've missed the city a lot"

"This place is pretty one of a kind"

"That's for sure" he smiled "Listen Maya, we should probably talk"

"I actually have to go" she cut him off.

"What do you have a hot date or something?" he chuckled.

"Uh yeah actually"

"What?" he sat up suddenly "with who?"

"You remember Noah"

"The guy from my going away part? I thought you said that wasn't serious?"

"It wasn't back then; it's been eight months Josh"

"And does he know…"

"No of course not"

"Well that's nice; build your relationship on a lie"

"Go to hell Josh" she rolled her eyes.

"Was I even a factor in this decision?"

"What did you expect Josh, that I would just sit around and wait, you left not me! And you didn't even call"

"You weren't exactly calling me either"

"I didn't know that you wanted me to"

"Well I didn't know either"

"Well what's done is done"

"So you really think I'm the kind of guy that would do that and then not call"

"I don't think it Josh, you were that guy"

"I did call; as soon as I landed and you never got back to me so I guess you were too busy with your boyfriend"

"It's in the past Josh, so let's just move on"

"Noah's here peaches" Riley poked her head out of the window.

"Hey you're Riley's uncle Josh right?" Noah shook Josh's hand as he came back in.

"Dude you're a college freshman, you can call me Josh"

"Yeah right sorry" he chuckled "it's the uncle thing"

"Well we got to go" Maya started, sensing the tension between the two "Bye Riles, bye Uncle Josh"

"That's not what you used to call me," he mumbled clearly annoyed.

"Goodbye Josh" she closed the door.

Later when she was on the subway, on her way back from her movie date with Noah, her mind couldn't help but wonder back to that night eight months ago. It was Josh's going away party and the entire family had had dinner together but after the meal all the young adults had moved to Josh's apartment were Drew had sprung for some beer and Josh seemed to be turning an eye to his sixteen year old niece's drinking. As it turned out she wasn't the best drinker and passed out after only two red cups which was why she was currently being helped home by Lucas. Before he knew it, the clock had long struck past midnight and he and Maya were left alone.

"Isn't it a little past your bedtime" he joked.

"I wanted to stay behind and give you a little going away present"

"How would your new boyfriend feel about that?" he joked.

"We've been on two dates and you have had way too much to drink" she joked back.

"I've only had two beers now give me my present" he poked her side.

"Okay" she smiled "just don't get your hopes up it's nothing out of the ordinary. Here" she handed him a new case for his phone, which had been painted to detail the Greenwich Village skyline at dusk. Orange smeared into blue covering grey buildings to create what Josh could only define as absolute beauty.

"Maya, you made this?" he began "this is so beautiful" he hugged her "thank you"

"It's nothing, it's just so you remember home when you're taking pictures of all those insane monuments in Europe"

"As if I could ever forget the city"

"Seriously" she shoved him playfully "don't forget me when you're gallivanting all over the Mediterranean"

"Maya" he looked into her eyes "I could never forget you, don't you know that?" and before she knew what was happening they were kissing and falling back on the couch.

Okay, she thought, there was no point in thinking about the past now, she needed to focus on her amazing boyfriend that did not need to know this story. It was unfair of josh to do this to her, he had left, and he DID NOT call, how dare he lie about that. She's spent weeks hanging onto her phone for dear life and nothing but that didn't matter now, she had Noah now.

Okay so there goes the first chapter of my new story, this will be a lot shorter than my last story if everything stays to plan it will be five chapters long. As always please leave a review and let me know what you thought.


	2. Chapter 2

The plan to not think about Josh was failing epically. She didn't know how long he planned on staying in the city but in the four days since he had arrived back home he seemed to constantly be in the Matthews's apartment. They were his family but come on; didn't he ever go to his own apartment? Maya was running out of excuses to get out of having dinner there and she had the unsettling feeling that Riley was getting suspicious. She and Josh had to air things out; it was not that big of a deal, they could totally move past it. So she decided that she would sit through a painfully awkward dinner so that she could later pull him aside to talk. Unfortunately, the Minkus family had also been invited to dinner so pulling Josh away discretely wasn't going to be easy given the presence of two geniuses. Nor was it easy to conceal the tension between them, something that became glaringly obvious when Farkle pulled her to the bay window.

"What the hell is going on between you and Josh?"

"What are you talking about Farkle?"

"I'm not Riley, Maya. I'm not naive enough to look past the awkward tension so are you going to tell me what's going on or am I going to have to ask Josh?"

"It's nothing Farkle, honestly"

"Did he hurt you?"

"No of course not"

"Then what is it? I thought you were over him, I thought you were happy with Noah"

"I was, I am"

"Then I don't get it, what's going on?"

"We just have some unresolved issues but it's nothing"

"Maya I know you, this is not nothing and it'll probably help to talk about it"

"You promise you won't overreact or judge me?"

"I would never judge you Maya, don't you know that by now?"

"You can't tell anyone Farkle, not even Riley"

"I won't I promise"

And as it turns out, Farkle was right; airing everything out with him did help and he was more understanding than Maya had thought, she guessed his breakup with Smackle last year had probably changed him in more ways than one but deep in her heart, no matter how much Farkle had helped, she knew she still had to talk to Josh. It had only taken Farkle an hour before he realised something had changed, it wouldn't be long before Riley did the same and Maya wanted to put this in the past for good.

* * *

"Can we talk?" She ambushed him on the street as he was leaving.

"Jesus Maya you almost gave me a heart attack" he jumped.

"Sorry" she sighed "I wanted this to stay between the two of us, so can we?"

"Of course but you could have called Maya, it's way too late for you to be on the street alone"

"This isn't the kip of topic I like talking about on the phone"

"Had lots of experience?" he threw her his famous smirk.

"Tons" she rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Come on gorgeous, I'll walk you home and we can talk"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about" she said as they began walking "No more smirking Josh, no more calling me gorgeous, it has to end. I'm with Noah now"

"But you are gorgeous Maya"

"Josh about what happened… we should act like it never happened"

"It wasn't a mistake Maya"

"I know that, that's not what I'm saying"

"You're saying you want to forget it" he scoffed.

"It'll be easier like that"

"We have nothing to be ashamed of"

"Josh, I'm happy with Noah"

"But you don't love him"

"Yu don't know that"

"Then why can't you say it"

"It's none of your business Josh"

"How is this none of my business?" he raised his voice "I come back and your dating some guy, you didn't even have the decency to warn me"

"You're the one that took off and never called Josh"

"I did call Maya"

"Of course you did Josh" she rolled her eyes.

"Is that how you're trying to make yourself feel better?" he spat "you never got back to me, if you wanted to stay with your rebound you could have at least called"

"Noah is not my rebound"

"You're right, he's your excuse, you know you want to be with me you're just afraid"

"Don't flatter yourself Josh"

"Maya I know you feel this too, it was always meant to be me and you"

"You have no right to do this to me Josh! I chased you for years and you always shot me down, and now what? You want to be with me because you're jealous? Noah loves me, he treats me right and unlike you he has never made me feel insecure or unwanted. You only want me when you think you can't have me"

"I'm sorry Maya, it wasn't like that. You were young and I didn't know what I was feeling but now I do and I know you want this to. The last thing I was ever want to do is hurt you Maya, don't you know that"

"It's too late Josh" she wiped a tear away.

"Maya" he grabbed her hands "look me in the eye and tell me that there isn't something that has always felt right about us"

"It's too late Josh," she whispered before walking up the stairs to her building.

* * *

How could she let this happen, she needed to get over this thing before Noah realised what was up. It wasn't supposed to be like this, how could she have been so stupid? She should have stopped it as soon as their lips touched but something in her kept telling her to push it and where had that landed her? She cheated on her boyfriend and there was no way he wasn't going to find out. But Josh's lips felt so right on hers and before she knew what had happened she was ripping his clothes off.

"Maya" he broke away as her hands had made their way to the button on his jeans "What are we doing?"

"I'm giving you a going away present" she smirked and kissed him again.

"Are you sure Maya?"

"I'm sure" she smiled kissing him once again.

The next morning rolled around quicker than either of them were prepared for but Josh had a plain to catch and Maya had to make it home before her parents woke and realised that she hadn't come home.

"Come on" Josh nudged her "I have to be in La Guardia in an hour, my parents are on their way to pick me up"

"I'm going to miss you"

"I'm going to miss you too gorgeous but it's not forever I'll be back before you know it"

"You better bring me back a present"

"Of course" he leaned in but his phone rang interrupting them "that's my parents, they're downstairs" he kissed her "take my key and let yourself out when you're ready, I won't need it till I get back anyway"

"Bye" she kissed him.

"Bye" he kissed her again "'I'll call you when I land" he smiled as he made his way out.

* * *

 **As usual please leave a review and let me know what you thought. I also love hearing your theories about what's going to happen, hope you liked it. Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Maya" said Noah "Maya, honey are you okay?"

"What?" she answered distracted "yeah, yeah I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" he chuckled "you kind of spaced out on me there"

"Yeah sorry I'm just thinking about work"

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah I picked up an extra shift though so I'm going to have to drop by and get the keys so I can close up tomorrow"

"Like you need another excuse to drop by the Matthews' place"

"Jealous?" she smirked

"No, I will always be second to Riley; I've made my peace with that"

"Good because it's not going to change anytime soon"

"I know" he chuckled "so I was thinking…"

"Oh god, that can't be good"

"Very funny"

"Okay, what were you thinking about?" she smiled.

"Your parents and how they're going out of town" he raised a brow.

"Noah-"

"Maya I know it's your first time"

"Yeah" her heart deflated.

"But I love you and we've been going out for a long time, do you think you're ready?"

"I don't know, it's a pretty big step"

"How about you think about and let me know"

"Okay" she smiled.

"I love you" he yelled on his way out.

"Mhhmh me too" she mumbled.

"I gotta get to work" he kissed her "but call me later; we should do something special this weekend"

Did she want to take this step with him? She asked herself after he had gone. How could she? There was no way she could without telling him about Josh? She had lied and this must be her penance. How could she have done this to him? He loved her and she lied to him for months. She wanted this, or at least that's what she tried to tell herself but she couldn't ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. She couldn't take this guilt, it was going to drive her crazy.

* * *

Farkle wasn't doing much better, he tried to be strong and understanding for Maya but seeing her so torn up was killing him. He wished he could be angry with Josh, he wished he could take his anger out on someone, but the reality was that Maya did what she did because it was what she wanted. Even he, who barely grasped the concept of human emotion, knew that Maya had fallen for Josh long ago and she wasn't getting over it anytime soon, no matter how much she claimed to like Noah. So that's why he did what needed to be done.

"Farkle what are you doing here?" Josh looked completely in shock as he opened his front door.

"Trying to fix everyone's problems" he walked through the door and into the living-room without an invitation "as usual"

"I'm not really sure you can help me with my problems" Josh chuckled.

"Cut the crap, Maya told me everything"

"Oh, so you're here to yell at me"

"Yes but not for the reason you think I am"

"Come again"

"I'm sure Maya knew exactly what she was doing when she engaged in whatever disgusting thing you did, what I don't know is what the hell you're doing now"

"I don't know" he pulled his hands threw his hair as he sat on the couch.

"Maya is one of my favorite people in the world so I'm going to put it for you plainly, she doesn't love him"

"Well tell her that because there's a reason she's with him now and not here with me"

"Yeah but she wants to be with you"

"I asked her Farkle, I asked her to pick me and she didn't so please enlighten me as to how she would rather be with me because as far as I can see she isn't here"

"What? She chose him, how could she choose him?"

"My feelings exactly"

"Sorry man, I didn't know" he patted him on the back "for what it's worth, I know she loves you; she just doesn't know it yet"

"So what's your advice?"

"Keep trying"

"What if it's too late? what if I really have lost her for good?"

"Please, you guys have been in love for like ten years there is no way she's over you, she never looks at him the way she looks at you"

"Not that I don't appreciate it but, what are you doing here?"

"I love Maya and she isn't happy with him, she's just deluding herself"

"If I didn't know any better I would say you didn't like Noah"

"Between you and me, he's kind of a douche"

"Between you and me, I couldn't agree more"

"I mean he's a nice guy, kind of like Lucas you know? All American football player"

"And that's a problem"

"Yes because we both know that that's not what Maya wants. She wants to sit in cafes and bookstores with you watching obscure movies and listening to YouTube bands while reading poetry. She doesn't want to be stuck on the side-lines cheering someone else on"

"Well apparently she doesn't know that"

"That's why I don't like him, she's lost pieces of herself to him, she just needs to see that then she'll come back to you"

"And in the mean time?"

"Like I said, just keep trying"

"Thanks anyway"

"You don't need to thank me; I would do anything for Maya"

"I know"

"Well I gotta go but good luck man"

* * *

What was he going to do? How could he fix this? Was it even possible to fix this? He needed to, he loved Maya he knew that, he always had and hearing Farkle's opinion only made him more determined to win her heart again. So he went over to his bedside table and pulled out the present he had brought back for her. He didn't want to give it to her in front of everyone and given the way they had been fighting recently he hadn't had another opportunity to. Making quick work of the ten minute walk from his place to hers, he climbed up the fire escape to the window he knew could only be hers and gently knocked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she opened the window to let him through "we have a door you know"

"You're one to talk and I would rather not have to explain to Shawn why I'm visiting his daughter in the middle of the night"

"Then how about you explain it to his daughter"

"Don't you remember?" he smirked "you made me promise to bring you back a gift" he lifted but the gift bag.

"And you needed to bring it to me at eleven thirty?"

"The last few times we've talked have ended with you yelling so I figured I better make it up to you"

"At eleven thirty?" she tried again.

"Those are really cute pjs" he chuckled and looked down at the Atom Ant shorts she was wearing.

"Thanks now are you going to give me the gift or are we going to stand here all night?"

"Here" he chuckled nervously but as soon as her eyes landed on the pendant she was holding he knew he had made the right choice.

"Oh my God Josh" she whispered as she pulled the necklace out to look at it "this is beautiful"

"There's this really famous park in Barcelona, _Guël_ Park, and its benches are decorated with these beautiful tiles, the blue reminded be of your eyes so when I saw them in a necklace I knew I had to get it for you"

"I love it thank you"

"Well that's not all" he chuckled

"There's more?" she dug her hand further into the bag.

"You remember when you gave me my phone case? Do you remember what you said?"

"Josh" she whispered as she pulled out the phone case which seemed to be covered in crushed crystals.

"We went hicking one day in _Teruel_ and came across this place where you could pick Amethyst, so I got some and glued them to the case"

"You did art?" she smirked

"I only pull out my craft skills for special people"

"It's gorgeous" she turned it over.

"Do you remember what you said that night you gave me mine?"

"That it was so you could remember home"

"It did remind me of home, but not because it was the city, because it reminded me of you"

"Josh-"

"You're home to me Maya, you always have been and you always will be so when you look down at that I want you to remember who you are"

And again she seemed to lose control of all her body, it was as if all her mental faculties had disappeared and she no longer possessed the ability to think rationally. Just like that night so many months ago, she found herself leaning in and before she knew what had happened she was kissing him. And boy what a kiss! Her kisses with Noah never seemed to have the same passion and it was that heart wrenching realization that made her pull away.

"I can't do this again"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm with Noah now"

"Maya look around, there's not a single sketch on this wall, when was the last time you painted? Do you even know?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Maya, you're art is who you are, and you're losing it to him"

"I'm not getting into this again"

"Maya, I love you; I always have but I can't watch you with him anymore. You deserve so much better"

"Josh-"

"So, I'll wait for you but I can't keep seeing you disappear behind him" and with that he gave her one last kiss on the cheek and climbed back out the window.

 **There goes chapter three. To all of you who are hanging in and reading this story, thank you. As always, please review because I love hearing what you think. Until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

How was he supposed live like this? Two days, it had been two days of complete and utter radio silence and saying that he was beginning to worry would be the most epic understatement in history. So what was he to do? What else could he do other than go home and try and take his mind of his pathetic love life? But his plan was flawed, even his childhood friends could tell that something was wrong.

"Okay" his best friend Connor finally asked over a plate of fries at Chubbie's "What's going on with you?"

"What?" he looked up from the spot on the table he had been staring at for the past ten minutes.

"You've been back for three days and you've barely said a word to us" his other friend Nathan threw a fry at him.

"We actually like to enjoy your company when we can pull you away from the city" he chuckled.

"It's nothing" Josh replied offhandedly

"It is not nothing" Connor laughed "do you really think we don't know when you're upset about something"

"We've known you your whole life Joshie"

"The whole point of coming down here was to get away from everything and clear my head"

"Well that obviously isn't working, so how about this? You tell us what's going on, we try and help and then hopefully we'll get our friend back"

"Spill dude" Connor deadpanned.

"There's this girl"

"I knew you had a girl in New York" he smirked.

"Her name's Maya"

"The blonde chick that used to come down with Cory in the summer"

"Yeah"

"I totally called it!" he pumped his fist in the air in victory "you owe me twenty bucks Nate"

"What? How long has this been going on?"

"Since we were ten" Nathan handed the bill over to his friend.

"It was totally obvious dude" he rolled his eyes "now back to the problem at hand, what happened with Maya?"

"Before I left for Barcelona we kind of…" he trailed off.

"Way to go Joshie" Nate laughed and put his arm around his friend.

"Don't do that, this isn't some random girl okay? This is Maya"

"Okay so what's the problem?"

"I came back and found out she has a boyfriend"

"Oh" his face fell.

"But I mean did you guys talk before you left?"

"Kind of, we didn't set anything in stone but I just assumed and then I called her when I landed but she never got back to me"

"Does she love him?"

"Who?"

"Channing Tatum" he rolled his eyes "The other guy, who else?"

"I don't think so"

"Then you have nothing to worry about"

"People keep saying that but given that she is still with him, I think I'll continue to worry if that's ok with you"

"Have you talked to her about all this?"

"Yeah but it's like she keeps running away"

"Josh I don't know her but her dad left right? And you turned her down for years; can you really blame her for having commitment issues?"

"Yeah" Connor added, "if the other guy loves her then she's probably just afraid to lose the stability so you need to prove to her that you're in it for the long game"

"Interesting choice of words" Josh chuckled "she once told me she was in it for the long game," he added after seeing the confused looks on his friends' faces.

"Just let her know that you're in it for real and give her some space and time to see that"

"That's what I'm trying to do but I'm going crazy"

"That blows man"

"That's your advice?" he chuckled.

"It's all we got bro"

"Here's hoping the next time you visit it's with a hot blonde holding your hand"

Oddly enough, talking about his situation with his friends did help. You couldn't run away from your problems, he'd learned that the hard way on several occasions, but he also knew that that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans for him so when he woke up the next morning it wasn't to the quiet hum of the radio he associated with his childhood home but to the loud laughs of one Shawn hunter.

"Hey Shawn" he greeted upon entering the kitchen "What brings you here?"

"Katie and I are road tripping down to Florida for the week and we thought we'd stop by and see your folks"

"You're always welcome here" Allen smiled.

"Maya's not going with you?" Josh asked in the most casual tone he could.

"No, she has to stay behind for work and Farkle's birthday" he smiled knowingly.

"You're leaving her in the city alone for a week" he picked at the toast on his plate.

"We trust her" his grin widened.

"Is something bothering you son?" Allen chuckled.

"No"

"Are you sure. It doesn't seem that way"

"Just worried Maya might get in trouble"

"Like she's any worse than you were when you were seventeen?"

"Josh" Shawn started seriously "you have nothing to worry about she doesn't love that Noah kid"

"Did you really think that no one noticed the way you looked at her?" Allen laughed after seeing the horrified look on his son's face.

"You're lucky I don't like Noah, otherwise I would be less okay about this"

"Shawn I-"

"It's okay Josh; I made my peace with it a long time ago"

"Thanks"

"And for what it's worth, you and Maya are practically family; you're going to be in each other's lives forever, Noah is just a phase"

"Just to be clear" josh started "Maya and I are not family"

"You never know maybe someday you will be" Allen joked.

"That I am not okay with"

"Don't worry I'm not quite there yet" josh chuckled.

* * *

Maya was subsequently doing worse, after two sleepless nights she finally accepted what she knew all along she needed to do. So that was why she currently sat in her best friend's window, tears threatening to escape, as she waited for said best friend to arrive home.

"Peaches" Riley smiled as she walked through the door "What's wrong?" she quickly changed her tone having noticed the redness in Maya's eyes "are you okay? Was it Noah? What happened? Farkle!" she called.

"What's going on? Riley this better not be another spider" the other boy came in "Maya what happened?

"Nothing, I'm fine" she answered "just overwhelmed" she added after seeing the matching disbelieving looks in front of her.

"So are you going to tell me what's been bugging you or are we going to pretend you're not hiding something from me?" Riley asked.

"Riley-"

"It's cool, you needed some time, I get that. Are you ready to talk about it now?"

"My parents are going out of town, I mentioned it to Noah and he wants to come over…"

"Maya don't let him pressure you into doing something you're not ready to do"

"It's not that, I am ready, at least I think I am"

"Then what's the problem"

"I told him it would be my first time" she wiped away a tear.

"and…"

"It won't be my first time" she whispered.

"What? When Who? Why didn't you tell me? When did this happen? Who was-"

"Relax Riles" Farkle tried.

"Now he's going to know that I cheated on him," Maya continued to cry.

"Maya" her best friend hugged her "everyone makes mistakes but you have to learn from them and then move on"

"I don't know how to tell him"

"Maya, when did this happen"

"Eight months ago"

"Who did you-"Riley trailed off "eight months ago… just before Josh left"

"Just before Josh left" she repeated.

"You slept with Josh?" Riley tried to digest.

"I cheated on Noah with him and now he's going to find out"

"Maya" Farkle started "this is what you're going to do: you're going to go home, take a bath and think about what you want. Forget about Noah and think about yourself"

"Noah loves me"

"And so does Josh"

"You don-"

"Yes I do. I talked to him. He told you he loved you and you told him that you were staying with Noah, so what gives?"

"He left and didn't even call Farkle so excuse me if I'm not ready to forgive him just yet"

"He loves you Maya"

"and I love Noah"

"No you don't and you know it Maya"

"This was a bad idea" Maya got up "I'm going to call Noah and tell him to come over tomorrow night"

"Maya-"

"No it's fine, I'll just tell him I did gymnastics as a kid or something, I'll figure it out" those were her last words before she climbed out the window.

"Riley what are we going to do?" he asked when the blonde left "you know she's going to regret it if she goes through with it"

"I have a bigger problem"

"What could possibly be more important that this?"

"Josh did call. He called and I deleted it"

* * *

 **Two updates in one week? That's pretty unusual for me but I wanted to update this story before my semester officially starts tomorrow (yes I'm a college student obsessed with a kids' show, so what?). Hopefully you guys weren't expecting Riley to be behind the call and were surprised but even if you weren't please leave a review and let me know. One more chapter to go guys! Thanks for hanging in and as always, please leave a review. Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you mean you deleted the call?"

"I mean I deleted the missed call from Maya's phone," Riley answered shakily.

"What? Why?"

"It was the day after Josh had left and Maya was so happy, I thought it was Noah, I didn't know what had happened so I figured why ruin her happiness. I thought I was helping her" Riley cried "and now she's going to make a huge mistake and it's all my fault"

"You have to tell her Riles"

"I can't she's going to hate me"

"We can't let her go through with this without knowing the whole story"

"She's going to be so mad"

"Maya can't stay mad at you, you know that"

"Josh really wants to be with her?" she asked.

"Seemed pretty sincere to me"

"Honestly, I didn't know, I would never do anything to hurt them, you know that right?"

"Of course I do, and so does she"

"I really messed up"

"It's not too late; we need to stop this now come on"

* * *

"So you want to go out for dinner tomorrow?" Maya asked down the phone.

"And then after dinner?" her boyfriend replied.

"Maybe we can come back to mine for a while"

"YES!"

"Please don't act like that, it makes me feel gross"

"Come on babe, I'm just excited"

"So dinner?"

"How about we go straight to dessert?"

"I'd like to go out first if that's all right"

"Yeah, ok… I'll pick you up tomorrow"

She was really going to do this, deep breath Maya. She could totally do this, it was no big deal and if it meant so much to Noah didn't he deserve it after eight months? She could do this for him and then maybe she could finally get over Josh. She knew that rationally Noah was the right choice; he was her boyfriend for crying out loud! But in spite of that she couldn't shake the nerves, nerves she had never felt with Josh. She sat on her bed trying to calm herself down but was quickly pulled out of her inner monologue by the unmistakable noise of someone coming through her window.

"Why didn't you tell me about Josh when it happened?"

"Riles, I didn't want you to freak out over nothing"

"First of all, your first time isn't nothing Maya, nor is any other time for that matter" she sat next to her friend as Farkle made his way through the widow "and we both know that isn't the reason"

"I don't know Riley, I didn't really think about it"

"Try again and how about this time you tell me the truth"

"What was I supposed to say Riles, I slept with your uncle and he never called? Was I supposed to tell you that one of your biggest role models just hit it and quit it? That I got left again? That I'm just like my mother? Josh is your family; I didn't want to come between that"

"You're my family too Maya and who cares? I will always love and respect you!" she yelled "Don't you know that by now?"

"I'm sorry, I was embarrassed"

"You never have to be embarrassed around me"

"I love you Riles"

"Ok then please bare that in mind when I tell you what I did"

"What…"

"Josh did call you Maya, but I deleted the call before you could see it"

"WHAT? WHY? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK RILEY?

"Language Maya!"

"You had no right! Where do you get off doing that? Just because you started dating the love of your life when we were fourteen doesn't mean you get to control the rest of us!"

"I did it for you! I didn't want you to get hurt, you seemed really happy with Noah"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Really?" she rolled her eyes "you're going to play the honesty card, this wholes mess could have been avoided if you had just told me about what happened"

"I've been yelling at him all week, I've been miserable all year…"

"You're mad"

"Yeah"

"But you'll forgive me"

"Yeah"

"So what are you going to do?" Farkle finally spoke.

"Nothing, I'm with Noah now"

"Josh loves you"

"Noah doesn't deserve this"

"Bullshit Maya"

"Language Riley!" the blonde chuckled.

"Stop using excuses to run away from something good, are you really that afraid of happiness"

"I'm happy with Noah"

"You just said you've been miserable all year"

"Noah changed that"

"Is that why I can see sketches hiding under your pillow when I haven't so much as seen you pick up a pencil in all the time you've been with him?"

"This is going to happen, Noah is coming over tomorrow and this is going to happen"

"Maya if you want to run away from Josh go for it" Farkle interrupted "but don't give yourself to some jerk that is pressuring you into it"

"I'm not a virgin ok? It's not a big deal"

"So what? Neither am I, neither is Riley that doesn't mean you lose your worth as a person Maya, you're not olive oil! It is a big deal"

"Maya if you go through with this you'll regret it forever"

"Why are you all suddenly against Noah?"

"Because I thought he was making you happy not Josh and if it's Josh who makes you happy then he's who you should be with"

"You don't love him Maya"

"Yes I do"

"Then say it! Say I love Noah"

"You know what?" she got up "I'm not playing this ridiculous game you know how to get back out" she slammed the door behind her.

* * *

"So do you have time for your favourite niece, some beer and a please forgive me pizza?" Riley asked as Josh opened his front door.

"First, how does a seventeen year old get beer? And second what is it I have to forgive you for?"

"The benefits of having a boyfriend that looks twenty five" she walked through and sat on the couch.

"Riles seriously, what did you do?"

"Maya told me everything"

"Umm" he scratched the back of his neck "I umm…"

"I don't care" she deadpanned "and I most certainly do not want to hear about it but I have to tell you something"

"Ok so what do you need to tell me?"

"Promise you won't be mad, promise you won't hate me forever"

"In what world could I hate you forever" Josh chuckled.

"Seriously Josh"

"What did you do Riley?"

"I kind of… I um… I deleted the your call from her phone"

"WHAT!" he got up "Why? What were you thinking? Why would you do that?"

"I didn't know what had happened I thought I was protecting her! I'm so sorry Josh, I messed everything up"

"Yeah you did! Do you know how hard this has been for me? For Maya? Maya, did you tell-"

"Yeah I did" her face fell "it didn't change anything"

"Riley" he dragged his finger through his hair "you know her better than anyone, what should I do? I'm out of ideas"

"Josh, Maya's going to do something stupid, I tried to stop her but she won't listen"

"Is she ok? Is she in trouble?"

"She's going to spend the night with Noah"

"Riles much as I hate it, they're dating and it's not my place to judge what she does with her boyfriend"

"You don't get it, they've never…"

"Not in eight months?" he perked up

"Guess she must have been hung up on someone else, crazy huh?"

"And what do you want me to do? She's made it pretty clear that she doesn't want to be with me"

"Give it one more shot Josh, she's going to regret it if she goes through with it"

"Riles, I really do love her"

"I know, so before you go over and try to win her over why don't we eat this pizza and you can tell me why you thought it would be a good idea to sleep with my best friend and then not tell me about it"

* * *

Dinner with Noah had been a no go. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood to go out so Maya had decided that instead she would cook something and they could stay in for a romantic night in. but even after they had scratched the going out idea, Noah seemed too eager to move on quickly.

"Noah come on" she pulled away "I spent hours making that lasagne, it's going to get cold. Calm down we have all night"

"Eight months is a long time to wait" he chuckled.

"Come on seriously" she dragged him to the table "What fresh hell is this" Maya groaned when she heard the door knock.

"Relax babe, it's probably just a delivery guy. I'll get it" he walked towards the door "What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't expecting you too be here" Josh waltzed right past the other young man, eyes focused like a laser on Maya. "Don't do this"

"Josh-"

"Maya please don't do this. I'm in love with you, I'm so incredibly in love with you I don't even know what to do with myself. I think about you all the time, I want to be with you. I love you, and I think you love me too so please don't do this"

"What the hell man?"

"I'm sure you're a nice guy but this is Maya's choice so Maya I'm going tell you one more time, I love you. Even if you go through with this I'll still love you tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that because I've loved you for so long I don't think I would know how to stop and I never want to"

"Josh-"

"Maya please just think about it, think about what you really want"

"I'm with Noah now"

"Maya-"

"No! You had your chance, you had your chance and you blew it. Noah loves me and for once in my life I'm happy why can't you accept that?"

"Because you're not happy and you know it, what happened to your dinner plans? Riley said you were going out. Since when does Maya Hart bow down to anybody?"

"Josh-"

"I've said my peace; just know that I'll still be waiting for you tomorrow or whenever you decide you're ready" so he kissed her on the cheek and left knowing that she was about to make a mistake she would regret for the rest of her life.

* * *

What else could he do? Sometimes you just had to let people learn from their mistakes, and it's not like his feelings for Maya would ever change. They were meant to be, he had all the faith in the world that was true, he just had to wait for her to see that again, she had waited years for him to do the same, he owed it to them both.

He couldn't go home, everything there reminded him of their night together so he rode the subway in circles, trying to think of anything other than what was likely happening at that moment. Eventually he had to give in to his stomach, he went to his brother's in hope of a hot meal and some support, but for the first time in his life, he found that no one answered the door. He resigned to walking home and spending the night alone with a meat lover's pizza but was shocked to find someone waiting for him.

"You're here?" he whispered as he made his way over to her "you're really here" he cupped her face.

"You never asked for you key back" she smiled.

"I don't want it back"

"you were right I'm afraid"

"You don't have to be, not with me"

"So we're going to do this?" her voice caught in her throat.

"Me and you, this is it"

"No more messing around"

"Never. I love you Maya"

"I love you too Josh"

* * *

 **Last chapter, hope you enjoyed this story and even if you didn't thank you for giving it a shot. I'm thinking about writing more one shots possibly an epilogue for my other Joshaya multi chap so if you want to read anything in particular please send me prompts! Thanks for all the reviews guys this is crazy! As always please leave a review and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading my story.**


End file.
